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Karting star Ross Wylie in Lanarkshire

KARTING star Ross Wylie enjoyed a rare opportunity to compete on home turf when he raced at Larkhall in Lanarkshire.

The 18-year-old from Thornhill took part in the fifth round of the British Super 1 championship at the weekend.

After finishing ninth place in the first final and eighth place in the second he now lies 11th in the overall championships.

Ross admits he was disappointed with the result.

He told the Standard: “It was a little bit of a disappointing end to the weekend. It had started off really well – I was stupidly fast in testing.

“In timed qualifying, my plan was to get out in front of the rest of the field but the kart failed to fire up. When we did get the engine going, I couldn’t get out of the traffic and was sixth overall. If I had been just a tenth of a second faster, I’d have been on pole position. It was that close.”

During his first heat a little car trouble meant he finished in 15th place.

He added: “On the rolling-up lap of my first heat, I could feel something was wrong with the engine. I fell down the order to finish 15th and afterwards, my engine tuner Steve Ogden discovered that a piston ring had failed which explained why the team’s junior driver was quicker than me up the straight.

“We changed the settings to try and get the best out of the kart but went the wrong way.

“In the race itself, one driver blocked me for five laps solid and by the time I got past him, the leaders were too far ahead. The team apologised to me for getting the set-up wrong but karting is a team effort, so it doesn’t matter. I got some decent points for my championship hopes and everything is still to play for.”

This weekend sees Ross taking part in the annual British Grand Prix of Karting, Kart Masters. It is a one-off, winner-takes-all event with the winner awarded the prestigious GP number plate to carry on their kart for the year.

Ross added: “It’s known as Crash Masters because of the nature of the Lincolnshire circuit and the style of racing which can be pretty desperate at times. I wouldn’t call it a fun event but I’m going to go out and enjoy myself all the same.”